Race works through a type of "common sense" that is based on individual experiences, cultural norms, (misunderstandings of) history, the law, politics, as well as psychological motivations and decision-making that operate on both a conscious and subconscious level. In total, the race business is a type of magic and pseudo-science. This makes it no less real or important.

â€śI was born in the Dominican Republic,â€ť he said. â€śMy work, among many of the things that it wrestles with, wrestles with the kind of, the often invisible and vigorously disavowed, long shadow of enslavement. Iâ€™m very much interested in how people like me, who are part of the African Diasporic community, and how do we deal with the consequences of the fallout from the calamity that we call slavery. And most specifically, Iâ€™m kind of interested in how do bodies like mine that were raped into existence â€“ our community doesnâ€™t look the way it looks without systematic rape â€“ and so how do communities like ours, with this long history of sexual violence and sexual predation, how do we as a consequence of that wrestle with the possibility of intimacy. In other words, where does love reside in bodies that spent centuries being told that they could not partake in love?â€ť â€”Junot Diaz (University of Missouri, January 22, 2018)

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This week on Intersection, we bring you excerpts from author Junot DĂ­az’s Jan. 22 talk at MU [University of Missouri].

DĂ­az won the 2008 Pulitzer prize for his first novel, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.â€ť He received a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship and co-founded the Voices of Our National Arts Foundation, which holds workshops for writers of color. He is a professor of writing at MIT.

DĂ­az immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United State when he was six. In his literary work and activism, he tackles issues including immigration, assimilation and oppression.

His speech was part of the MU Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. event. During the talk, DĂ­az spoke about white supremacy, the role of artists and the lasting effects of slavery…